John scott



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

JOHN SCOTT, OF DOVER, COUNTY OF KENT, ENGLAND.

PROCESS OF DRY CLEANlNG TEXTILE FABRICS.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,652, dated December27, 1887.

Application filed February 21, 1887. Serial No. 228,6l0. (No specimens.)Patented in England May 23, 1885, No. 3,170 in France May 29, 1885, No.169,258; in Belgium May 30, 1885, No. 69,064, and in Canada August .25,1886, No. 24,810.

.7 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN Soon, a citizen of England, residing at Dover,in the county of Kent and Kingdom of Great Britain, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Dry-CleaningTextile Fabrics,

(for which I have received Letters Patent in England, No. 3,170, datedMay 23,1885;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The feature of novelty in this invention con sists in submitting thearticles to be cleaned to an equal and gentle friction, which isproduced by the action of sawdust in combination with benzoline,naphtha, or some spirit possessing .equivalent cleansing properties,contained in a closed receptacle or box in which the goods are placedand turned by a rotary motion imparted to the axis of the box or otherreceptacle by any convenient means.

The object of such improvement isto reduce the expense in cleaninghitherto incurred in the dry process by a saving of twenty-five toseventy-five per cent. of spirit employcd,with the advantage ofpreservation of the colors of heavy goods, which up to the present timecould only (owing to the great expense) be cleaned by the ordinarymethod,with the riskof injury to the colors. The new process is simple,easy of application, and efficacious in its results.

This process is as follows; The goods to be cleaned are first subjectedto careful inspection to ascertain if they bear grease or dirt stains.These are removed by brushing with naphtha, benzoline, or other cleaningspirit, after which they are damped all over with the same spirit andplaced in a receptacle or box of convenient form and dimensions, whichis closed and air-tight, and in which sawdust is introduced in quantitysufficient to cover the articles under treatment. This box or receptacleis then made to rotate on its axis by any convenient means.

The amount of sawdust employed would naturally vary in accordance withthe quantity of material to be operated upon, but in all cases it mustbe sufficient to cover the goods.

The quantity of spirit retained in the articles, in conjunction with thegentle frictional action of the sawdust on the material occasioned bythe revolution of the box, suffices to effect the purposes required; butin some instances it may be advisable to mix a small quantity of thespirit with the sawdust.

The duration of the cleaning process in the boxv would depend on thecondition of the articles at the time of operating; but, as a rule, fromone to three hours may be stated, taking into consideration the natureof the material. When this operation is completed, the articles arewithdrawn, and the sawdust is then re moved from them either by shaking,beating, or placing them in a revolving cage.

I am well aware that stale bread and silver sand dampened with camphorhave been employed for cleaning purposes, and that dry sawdust and bran,used alone or with polishing material, have been used with a rumble,box, or shaking-machine for polishing metal articles. I therefore makeno claim to arumble, box, or shaking-machine, such being in use in manytrades; nor do I claim the use of dry sawdust or bran or bread andsilver sand dampened with camphor for cleaning purposes; but what Iconsider as new is cleaning textile fabrics with sawdust impregnatedwith naphtha or benzoline. The sawdust, being wet with the cleaningspirit and also gritty, acts on the surface of the material as a wetbrush, cleaning heavy goods in a manner that neither dry sawdust norbran norbread and silver sand dampened with camphor could possiblyeffect in such a satisfactory manner.

I claim The method of cleaning textile fabrics by first removing dirt orgrease stains from them by brushing them with naphtha or benzoline,after which dampening allover with the same cleaning spirit, and in thenrotating the fabrics in a revolving receptacle with a quantity ofsawdust impregnated with naphtha or benzoline, for the purpose hereinexplained.

JOHN SCOTT.

Witnesses:

Gnonen SMITH, Spencer Mount, Priory Hill, Dover, Solicitors Clerk.

FREDK. J. SERGEANT, 33 Clarendon Street, Dover, Solicitors Clerk.

